New look and new feel coming to Wooster's north end McDonald's

Published: February 5, 2012 4:00AM

By BILL HOUSTON
Special to The Daily Record
WOOSTER -- The grand opening festivities for the newly renovated north end McDonald's restaurant is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Feb. 17.
What customers will find, is while the golden arches remain, not a lot looks the same.
"I was really shocked when I came in," said Debbie Hewitt of Fredericksburg, a driver for Ida Sue School who was taking a break for breakfast after transporting students on a field trip. "It's really updated and retro. It's more open and way more modern. I think it's really neat what they did."
What they did is in line with the Forever Young rebranding campaign, started by the McDonald's Corp. back in 2006, in an attempt to keep their stores contemporary and relevant.
While the traditional red and yellow colors are still a major part of the design, the red has more of a terra cotta look and the yellow appears more soft and golden. There also are more olive colors, sage greens and earthy beige tones, and a lot of what used to be plastic has been replaced with brick or wood.
"We're upgrading to take care of the customers," explained store manager Linda Vance. "We value every one of our customers and all of those in this community."
While the finishing touches are still being applied to the inside of the Burbank Road location, some of the amenities used to serve customers in previously renovated McDonald's locations around the country have included wireless Internet access, flat screen televisions, upholstered furniture and high-topped tables with stools.
Exactly what creature comforts will be included at Vance's store will be revealed in the days leading up to the grand opening, which Vance said will include a family fun atmosphere, featuring prizes and an appearance by Ronald McDonald.
Vance also said there will be a color guard on hand to raise the flag in honor of local veterans and active service members.
She also has invited Mayor Bob Breneman to participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony and deliver a presentation about the city of Wooster.
"It's a very, very rewarding sense of achievement working with this community and all of our customers," said Vance. "Community is very important to McDonald's."
And the north end home of the Big Mac never really stopped serving the community even while getting its facelift.
Workers and subcontractors with Fortney and Weygandt, general contractors out of North Olmsted, carefully worked around McDonald's employees and customers, allowing the fast food mainstay to continue serving up burgers, fries and shakes, during over two months of renovations that began the week after Thanksgiving.
"That's the challenge," explained Miguel Cruz, a carpenter for Fortney and Weygandt. "Working around not just their employees, but the customers too, and keeping everybody happy and everything safe and clean. We take a lot of precautions for safety.
"But it was a good experience. You know where you're going to get your lunch everyday."
Vance's location has been serving up breakfast, lunch and dinner since it originally opened its doors back in 1992, as the third of Joseph R. Benden's Wooster franchise locations.
Vance became manager of the Burbank Road store in 2000, six years after Benden sold his 10 northeast Ohio franchises back to the McDonald's Corporation, following his retirement in 1994.
Vance said her store employs 53 regular employees and she is very flexible to work around school schedules as she "firmly believes education comes first and ultimately benefits both McDonald's and the community."
While Vance's store is the first in the area to receive Forever Young renovations, she said the Wooster location at the corner of Bowman Street and Beall Avenue will be next, followed by the North Main Street store in Orrville.
Fifty-seven years after Ray Kroc opened the first McDonald's store in Des Plaines, Ill., back in 1955, there are now more than 31,000 restaurants worldwide.
The Forever Young re-imaging campaign is the first major renovation of the McDonald's image since the 1970s.